Mich. DNC member: Plan to split delegates flawed

LANSING, Mich. — A top Clinton supporter in Michigan said Thursday the state Democratic Party's plan to split the convention delegates between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama is "fatally flawed."

Democratic National Committee member Joel Ferguson sent a letter Thursday to the co-chairs of the DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee seeking to seat all of Michigan's delegates based on the results of the disputed Jan. 15 election. Failing that, he says the pledged delegates should get a half-vote each and superdelegates should get a full vote, a plan Florida also is proposing.

Clinton, who won Michigan's primary, wants to have the full delegation seated. Obama, who is close to having enough delegates to lock up the nomination, has opposed that, noting he took his name off the Michigan ballot after the DNC said it would strip the state of its delegates as punishment for moving up its primary date in violation of party rules.

The rules committee is to meet Saturday to hear plans for seating delegates from Michigan and Florida, which was also stripped of its delegates for holding a January primary.

His letter puts him at odds with the Michigan Democratic Party's chairman and executive committee, which support a proposed 69-59 split.

State Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer disagreed with Ferguson.

Under Ferguson's plan, Clinton would get 73 pledged delegates for winning the Michigan presidential primary, while "uncommitted" would get 55. The Clinton campaign has maintained that Obama should not get any Michigan delegates even though many of his supporters voted for "uncommitted."

"I am convinced that neither the RBC nor the DNC have the authority to take pledged delegates allocated to Hillary Clinton by virtue of the popular vote and assign them to either Uncommitted or to Barack Obama as the challenge seeks," Ferguson wrote in his letter.

The plan to split the delegates 69-59 was drawn up by a four-member team of prominent Michigan Democrats.

"We spent a lot of time working with both campaigns trying to figure out a solution," DNC member Debbie Dingell, who helped draw up the plan, said Thursday. "This is a consensus that was agreed to and the entire executive committee supported. At this point, we're fighting for a principle that's important."

Comments

[disgustedbyitall]

I have yet to hear a mea culpa from the state parties in Michigan or Florida.

Until they do, all the bitching about "flawed" solutions is just so much bullshit.

[JimR]

Yup. They started this whole mess, and they should not go unpunished.

[Countess]

These Clinton fanatics are either in complete bad faith or they are an accurate reflection of the Clinton's low brow campaign and sincerely believe that somehow she is being cheated because people want to follow the rules of the game which no longer suit her. Either way it is a direct result of her poisonous campaign.

[chriss0114]

Hillary supporters are enabling her meltdown.

She needs help and not the delegate/voter kind. Possibly an intervention.

Her most rabid supporters are hurting her and destroying her in the process. She is probably close to a nervous breakdown and no one is reaching out to really help her.

It is time to help her go home and get some needed rest and a respite from the madness surrounding her.

[edwarvir]

chrisso114, you aare right. Her supporters are enabling her meltdown, and that is so sad.

If Bubba really loved her , he would not encourage her to continue. This is not only
demeaning to her but very, very embrassing to the party.

[McPander]

It saddens me to continue to hear people who would not judge themselves to be racist and continue to state that Senator Obama cannot win.
I will tell you that I understand your fears and I also understand your desire to win this year.
I will ask you, Do these feeling carry through in your life?
Do you interview a job candidate that is African-American and not give him the job because of your fear of how a client might react?
Do you sit and listen to a racist joke that turns your stomach and not speak out?
Do you sit on a jury room listening to obviously racist remarks and not cast a vote of not guilty?
Do you understand that you are the problem with this country?
Do you understand that your inaction is a more vile than the man who burns a cross in someones front yard?
The fact is is that the person asking for that job still doesn't get the job and that make you any better than if you are a racist?
What gives you the right to decide when America is ready?
A racist person is usually founded on fear. They believe in their position and are ready to fight for it. I have more respect for them than I do for people that share the view "He cannot win because he is black".
God help you.....for you are the hidden shame that allows racism to continue in the country.

[ProgressiveBum]

Flagged for spam. I had seen this post on several threads.

[PrdAmerican]

Don't these protesters realize that they are going to look like rabid fools...if these are the same ilk as those from Hilliaryis44 then it will be a nasty looking bitter crowd of racists....am sure we will see a lot of "HUSSANE" and "MORAN" posters in that crowd.

[SCurry713]

How many times can one move the goal posts? and has anyone seen them lately?

[INDYBIGT]

This is starting to look like the election of 2000 when the Bush people out of FL sent protesters out to raise hell. Their feigned indignation and threat of civil disruption pushed the situation to a head before the facts of the disputed FL votes could be investigated fully. And the Gore people took the HIGH ROAD (like Obama is doing now) and LOST due to the premature Supreme Court decision ending the recount.

We should not underestimate the power of the RABBLE ROUSER to usurp the democtratic process.

[saltysea]

I'm worried, but seeing all the posters here who were formerly for hillary (ffh?), i feel better. I've had the opposite experience, with certified lefties starting to hate Obama because of all the lies going down. I mean they are seriously thinking there are unseen, faintly diabolical forces behind Obama. i've learned to keep my mouth shut, except to urge them not to get caught up in the hatred. i don't know how she will ever get many of her supporters to go for Obama, after working up this hatred for him and us.

We've got to remember that McBush will give everything we live for up on the altar of national security & no woman's choice. Com'n back, all you Hillary folks, after you lick your wounds. We need you!

[Turtleluv6]

As a woman I am ashamed that these woman seem to think they speak for every woman. They are as dumb as a box of rocks. Let them vote for McLame who has plans on taking their rights away that's how retarded they are...sorry the box of rocks probably have more sense.

[olivia]

It is time for Hillary to stop pretending she is a Democrat, or has any loyalty to the Democratic party.

Time to get on the ticket with McCain, or run as an independent with another neocon like Lieberman.

[RichLiberal]

It's time for Obama to stop pretending he's a Democrat. He has not won the states with the Democratic Base and his whole lead is based on red state caucuses that will never vote for the Dems in Nov. It is up to the Supers to recognize this and do the right thing at the convention, which is to represent the voters of the Democratic Party who in no uncertain terms have definitely swung toward Clinton despite the objection of the Dem Leadership who is afraid of her and is trying to foist Obama on us to protect themselves from their impending fall from power in Congress. The Dems will win Congress, but the leadership is almost sure to change after the disgrace they have brought on the party in this primary.

[olivia]

One candidate has shown integrity in this campaign and the other has not.

I'm voting for the better person and the more capable leader.

The math is just a huge game to some people - how to make it say what they want. The math will sort itself out.

I'm voting my conscience. So are millions of others. That's why Obama is winning.

[mikeant50]

Don't know where you get this idea that blue collar working whites and women are the base of the Democratic Party. In 1996, Bill Clinton was deserted by both these groups. If African Americans hadn't turned put in large numbers, there wouldn't have been a second Clinton Terms. The only group that constantly vote Democrat is African Americans.

[coloradosiren]

Hillary seemed to enjoy the huge popular votes she received in the red states of West Virginia and Kentucky known to vote Rebublican in the general election. Stop demeaning caucuses. If we were to count the millions of people who voted for Obama in the caucus states, I doubt Hillary would come close to winning the popular vote she is attempting to use as leverage to flip the nomination. Caucuses are a legitimate part of the process. Hillary's failure to recognize this is why her campaigned miserably flatlined after Super Tuesday.

[JackND]

""his whole lead is based on red state caucuses that will never vote for the Dems in Nov""

Minnesota is a red state?

Hillary's wins are all in red counties that she won't win in November.

[paganmist]

Look. This is a competition. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Stop whining already. She knew the rules going in. She agreed to them. She was winning by them. Now she's losing by them.

You're really not making yourself look very good by insisting the rules should be overturned for the person you like best. This is a democracy, rules are what make things fair and square.

I don't want a Clintatorship, thankyouverymuch.

[nk007]

Here are a series of queries for Hillary and Bill Clinton, and all militant Hillary supporters: Do rules mean any thing to you, or do you think the DNC has no business setting rules to prevent chaos in the scheduling of primary/caucus elections? By the way, how come Bill Clinton did not raise any objections to the caucuses when he ran for President twice? How come Hillary Clinton did not object to the caucuses when she decided to run? Is it not a fact that she spent both time and money trying to win both the Iowa and Nevada caucuses? Finally, suppose Hillary is nominated and ends up winning the popular vote but McCain wins the electoral votes, will you insist that Hillary is the president and not McCain despite the rules mandated by the Constitution? Are you sure you can win that argument in court without first amending the Constitution? And, why this propaganda mantra about who is winning the popular votes? Do the DNC rules allow a candidate to be nominated based on the popular vote but not on the majority of hers/his delegate votes?

[lykitis]

Here's the pretty president!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1022805/One-end-road-Merry-Clinton-knocks-whisky-campaign-plane.html

[windwalker1984]

I went to the article and looked at the pictures of Hillary. Interesting that she and W both like a big glass of whiskey when they think people aren't looking. Wonder why the US media has let this slip by??????

[MRb1000]

Hillary the pipe dream is over!!!

[Seven7s]

Of course she said that. What else was she going to say: "Senator Obama has run a great campaign, I made several fatal mistakes and I am mostly at fault for my loss in this primary. Now lets heal old wounds and get behind Barack Obama to help him beat the Republicans in the Fall."

Do you really expect her to say that? That would take CLASS, something the Clintons apparently do not have

[Grunty1]

It would also take recognizing reality, something else in short supplly.

[dcshogun]

Even though Clinton's supporters may be showing up to protest, the DCforObama mailing list tells me that over half of the tickets to sit in on the actual hearings were grabbed up by our members (shows the power of internet mobilizing considering the thing sold out in a minute). So hopefully we'll have robbed her supporters of any CSPAN coverage in which to be obnoxious.

[MoxieGurl]

Well a majority of her supporters are low information voters and they don't even know that these internets are...

[CountAight]

As long as we're making up the rules as we go along, why doesn't Hillary go the full nine yards? Quintuple the Michigan "election" results. If we do that, she has already locked up the nomination. Go, Hill, go!

[kesiac]

Or perhaps she could just scrap the whole democracy thing and declare herself queen.

[LiberalBuzz]

Or Dictatress for LIFE!

[lizr]

ROFLMAO- that might work :)

[CyberGal619]

... or Her Inevitable Highness!

[benelux]

How 'bout declaring herself "The Royal Prevaricator" or Prevaricator-in-chief

[MRb1000]

Hey somebody give this person some ridalin. You are going to be alright when you take your pill.

[paganmist]

It's 'ritalin'.

Let me guess: Hillary supporter.

[JimR]

I heard she wants the Phoenix lander on Mars to count as a delegate.